Partner Article

More women needed in the boardroom

A leadership expert is calling for more women to be promoted to top jobs in business as they have a stronger social conscience, and are “more sensitive to suffering”.

Niamh O’Keeffe works closely with CEOs on leadership legacy projects, and believes that women are biologically programmed to care more for others, therefore are more aware of the greater good they can do whilst in power.

She is now encouraging those in top positions to use their influence wisely to create a legacy to change the lives of people less fortunate than themselves.

O’Keeffe said: “If we believe that our leaders – whether in business or government – should be thinking about their leadership legacy to the world and not just their own more self-centred agenda, then it is undoubtedly the case that the world would benefit from a greater number of female leaders.”

She also believes than many CEOs are obsessed with organisational targets and performance reports, and are missing out on opportunities for even bigger commercial and reputational wins to benefit more people in their industry and also the world.

She added: “Truly great leadership should be about far more than the short term financial bottom line.

“There is a lot of noise about the urgent need to tackle the gender disparity in the boardroom, but the real change needs to be at CEO level and the faster the better.”

O’Keeffe’s assertions are supported by recent findings that female appointments in FTSE 250 and AIM companies are few and far between, while record levels of female unemployment highlight women as an underused talent pool.

Liz Field, CEO of Financial Skills Partnership said: “Effective management of diversity remains one of the biggest challenges facing UK companies.

“Getting the balance right between quotas and meritocracy is crucial. The purpose is to find the best, most capable, dynamic and committed board members who can help bring companies to greater heights.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .